Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-14
THE GROWTH OF WICHITA.
Inc Sohd1ty ofits Land Trust Companit
and its MANUFACTURES.

From the Boston Journal
In readable letter published in the
Journal from z. A. s. upon Kansas invest
ments there was one paragraph which has
given offence to the good people OF Wichi-
ia. The paragraph read as follows:
There is another class of loans not so good
those on property in towns which have been doomed
stand still. in some Of the cities which it is not
necessary 10 name. large amounts OF property are
propabiy more than it viii ever bring There must
De loss mere, but the prudent have taken care OF
5000 Of unpaid interes COUPONS Of wichita loans
fhe development OF that towns so remarkaDie;even
Windy Wonder It IS going ing ahead,now with full
head OF steam Its people have secured enterprises
by purchasing them. Conservative men seem 10 catch
reach wichita
Mr. Frank K. Gillespie, sponding
secretary of the board of trade of Wichita,
writes US at great length, taking exceD-
tons to the statement, and furnishing
from several loan companies evidence that
the payment Of interest is promptly made.
There has certainly been no default to our
knowledge upon eastern loans made IN
Wichita. Mr. Gillespi writes:
Interest rates are from 6 to 8 per cent.
per annum. and z. A. S. says not over 40
per cent. of the values are loaned on prop
erty. Taking the rate at s per cent, the
interest being payable semi-annually. $780,
600 represents the interest on s3UO,oU on
property assessed at SS000,00O. You will
please bear in mind that there are five or
six loan companies in the city, any one of
which does an equal amount of business
with the others, and five or SIX others
which do good business. They all lend
upon farming and city property. Taking
Il. y. ;. s figures for one company, there
should be SIS, 100000 to $50 000, 900 of money
loaned on property assessed at sS,O000OO,
which you can see is not common sense.
Recognizing the influence your journal
would have upon the moneyed men of
your city and New England who are not
i'll position to understand the animuS
and the falsity of such statements-and
the injury 1t might, if undisputed, do to
not only your city, but to the scores of
Boston capitalists who have thousands of
dollars loaned and invested in Wichita, |
have taken occasion to make diligent in
quiry among the loan companies and send
you herewith some of the letters received
from them, and which show that in the
city of Wichita, and Sedgwick county in
parti cular, and western Kansas in general
the interest coupons are met with alacrlty
| will say, that matter of fact, Wichita
has in the last SIX months acquired and IS
either operating or completing no less than
forty-eight separate and distinct manu-
featuring establishments, representing a
capital of 1862 900 and employment for
1912 people. Enough others are either
being organized or seeking locations
here to make a total of 50 manufacturing
concerns, with total capital of s. ,5G3,
900, employing lisp people, which are
promised Wichita before the first of June,
prinrln9l these
ton Car works, which will be completed
March 1, 1888, by Boston capitalists and
employ 1000 men; several packing houses,
one with a daily capacity of 4, 900 hogs, en-
plOying 800 to 600 men, with probability
of two more equally as large; watch fac
tory employing 400 men, and, if | cared to
tax your patience, | could ill column
with enumerations of the factories, the
. 600 buildings erected from June, 1886, to
June 1887, at a cost of S6,000,000, OF the
Sl0,000,000 put into permanent improve
ments of the mile of business house front
age built. of the nine colleges and univer-
sites, and a thousand and one other things
done here in one year.
have only this to say: Wichita is to-
day upon a firmer basis than ever before;
investors feel far more secure than
even last winter, as she now has
every certainty of becoming a large city.
There is now acting in rapidly an ac-
tivity in real estate, which promises to
equal, if not surpass, anything seen here
during last winter and spring, when thous-
ands of dollars were made by every person
who invested, and not a man lost his
money. Her Indebtedness is less-only
$50 000-and her taxes lower that any
other Kansas town, being 1912 on each
800 of assessed valuation"
We have no reason to question the ac-
curacy of the above statements, and they
are gratifying to New England, for many
of its active citizens hail from this section
and are actively engaged in making
Wichita a solid, progressive city.